“You have no idea, indeed!” Yanis mocked her. “You and Vannor didn’t think I had the wits to work it out, did you? Poor, daft Yanis—he’ll never guess he’s being spied on—he’s so thickheaded that he gets cheated by Southerners!”
Most of this outburst was a mystery to Zanna, but she heard the bitterness in his voice—and caught the name of Vannor. “Dad? But he doesn’t even know I’m here—” Horrified, she caught herself up with a hand to her mouth, but it was too late. Yanis looked at her with narrowed eyes. “What?” he yelped. “He doesn’t know you’re here?”
Gods, but he looked so fierce! Zanna backed away from him, the words tumbling out of her as she tried to explain. “Well, he must know now, of course, because Dulsina will have told him, but he didn’t know, when we came away ...” Her words trailed off. Yanis looked at her, stone-faced, not helping at all.
“I had to get away from Sara!” she protested. “She meant to marry me off to some moon-faced merchant’s son—”
“Vannor didn’t send you?” Yanis was gaping at her.
Zanna sighed. No wonder he was cheated by the Southerners, she thought. “No,” she repeated. “Dulsina said you wouldn’t take us if you knew, so—” She shrugged. “I’m afraid she didn’t exactly tell you the truth—”
“Gods’ bloody teeth! I have to get you back, before he finds out!” Yanis spun the wheel, and the ship lurched and shuddered, heeling over as the wind spilled from its sails. Curses and shouts of protest could be heard all over the deck as the crew were tumbled about.
“No,” Zanna cried. “You can’t!” Without thinking, she tried to wrench the wheel from his grasp, to return the ship to its original course. For a grim moment they grappled, while the vessel wallowed and tipped.
“You idiot!” Yanis bellowed. “You’ll have us over!” Giving in to her, he let the ship swing round, heaving a sigh of relief as the tilting vessel straightened and the wind swelled its shadowy gray sails once more. “Get below!” he snapped at Zanna. “I ought to throw you overboard!”
“Not until you’ve heard what J haye to say.” Zanna stood her ground. “You can’t take us back,” she insisted. Didn’t this fool realize that she was trying to keep him out of trouble? Yanis was not to blame for the disappearance of Vannor’s children—but her father wouldn’t see things in that light! Desperately she tried to think of a way to change the young smuggler’s mind. “Do you want your crew to see how you were taken in? You’ll be a laughingstock!”
“What in the name of all the Gods are you playing at, Yanis? Are you trying to send us to the bottom?” Gevan thrust forward, his weatherbeaten face pale with anger.
“It was my fault,” Zanna said quickly, trying to look meek. “I—I thought I could steer it, but—”
“You let this child take the wheel?” Gevan turned on Yanis.
“Have you lost your mind?” The crew, limping and rubbing their bruises, were gathering around, awaiting the outcome of the confrontation with avid curiosity.
“You can’t blame Yanis—I told him I knew how to do it,” Zanna insisted.
“What?” Yanis looked baffled. “But—”
Zanna kicked him sharply in the ankle. “I’m truly sorry, sir—I only wanted to try . . .” She turned her most winning smile on the mate—and jumped, as Yanis whispered in her ear.
“Take the wheel a minute—just keep her exactly as she is,” Before she knew it, Zanna, rigid with anxiety, was hanging on to the wheel with trembling hands.
“Thara’s titties!” Gevan spat disgustedly. “I don’t know which of you is the bigger fool—” His words ended in a choking gurgle as Yanis lifted him off the deck with a twisted handful of shirt, and pinned him, struggling, across the ship’s rail with a knee in his groin and his head hanging down toward the waves that surged and foamed along the vessel’s side.
“Now,” said Yanis, “you’ll apologize to the lady for your foul language, and then you’ll apologize to me!” He loosened his grip slightly on the pop-eyed mate’s collar, still holding him in his perilous position while Gevan gasped out his apologies, Yanis lowered the terrified man to the deck and stepped back to look at his dumbstruck crew.
“I know you don’t think much of me, compared with my dad. Oh yes—I’ve heard you muttering and whispering in corners! But there can only begone captain of this ship, and one leader of the smugglers, see? If anyone else wants to take over, you can speak up now or not at all, but you’ll have take me on, first—and you’ll take the leadership over my dead body!” For a long, grim moment he held their eyes, until one by one, the crew turned and slunk away.
Zanna felt like cheering. She gazed at Yanis with shining eyes, but he was looking past her at—
“Look out!” Pushing her roughly to one side, he seized the wheel and wrenched it hard over. The ship swung and heeled, its timbers creaking in protest, and Zanna, as she tumbled into the scuppers, caught a glimpse of a dark, jagged shape against the starry sky, and the thundering crash of waves on rock.
As the vessel straightened, Yanis turned to her with a grin, and extended a hand to help her to her feet. “Got to keep your eyes skinned, sailing this close to the coast at night,” he said cheerfully. Zanna, her heart still hammering, looked at him openmouthed.
“Apart from that, though,” he added condescendingly, “you did very well for the first time. We’ll make a sailor of you yet!”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Zanna said weakly. “Gods, Yams —I never saw that rock! It was se dark. How did you know?”
Yanis winked at her, and his teeth flashed white as he laughed. “See—not as daft as you thought, am I? Even though I did get cheated by the Southerners!”
“I never said you were daft!” Zanna protested.
“No, but your dad did, and a lot more besides!” Though he spoke lightly, she could hear an undercurrent of bitterness in his voice,
“What happened?” she asked him softly,
Yanis sighed. “It’s been going on for a long time, this trade with the Southerners—in the family, you might say. When Vannor came in with Dad, and found us new markets, we started to prosper. We trade with the Corsairs, who are supposed to defend their coast, but who are the worst bunch of knaves and scoundrels you’ll ever see. They’ll do anything to line their pockets!”
“What do you trade?” Zanna was fascinated,
Yanis shrugged, “Various things. Theirs is a hot, desert country and not much grows thece. We trade them wood and wool and grain, mostly—-common enough stuff here, but worth a fortune to the Southerners. In exchange, we get spices, silks, and gems—or we’re supposed to!” he added glumly, “This time, when we got back and opened the caskets, they had the good stuff on top, but the rest was worthless sand!”
“But didn’t you think to check?” Zanna asked in amazement.
“Check?” Yanis glared at her fiercely. “It’s not a bloody game, you know, it’s deadly serious—and deadly dangerous. We have no time to check! We slip in, exchange the goods as fast as possible, then we run for home as fast as we can.”
“Hmm . . .” Zanna frowned thoughtfully, “Then the whole operation depends on good faith,” A surge of excitement ran through her. This was a real challenge! “Leave it to me!” she told Yanis. “I’ll think of a way to beat those crooked Southerners—I promise!”
The young smuggler’s mouth twitched for an instant, but he failed to hide his smile. “Of course you will,” he said kindly, as though addressing a very small child.